PLYMOUTH, MA — (BrooklandNews.com) — Sept. 4, 2026 — A judge declared a mistrial Friday in the murder case against Lindsay Clancy, the former labor and delivery nurse accused of strangling her three young children in 2023, after jurors said for a third time they could not reach a unanimous verdict.
Plymouth Superior Court Judge William Sullivan told the courtroom he intended to declare the mistrial following a seventh day of deliberations, but first gave defense attorneys an hour to pursue an emergency appeal for a stay.
Kevin Reddington, Clancy’s defense lawyer, has pushed hard against a mistrial throughout the week, arguing the panel should keep working rather than be discharged. Rather than accept a deadlock, the defense asked Sullivan to remove a juror it described as a lone holdout refusing to follow the law, a request the judge declined. With that option exhausted, Reddington was expected to use his hour-long window to argue for a stay that would keep the case from formally ending in a mistrial.
Clancy, 36, faced three counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of her children, Cora, 5; Dawson, 3; and 8-month-old Callan, who were strangled in the basement of the family’s home south of Boston in January 2023. Jurors also had the option of convicting her of lesser charges, including second-degree murder and manslaughter. Clancy has not disputed that she strangled her children, but her attorney argued she should not be held criminally responsible because she was suffering from postpartum psychosis at the time of the killings and a subsequent suicide attempt. Prosecutors countered that she acted deliberately and with clear intent.
The jury — nine women and three men — first notified the court it was deadlocked Sept. 1. After a second deadlock notice, Sullivan issued a Tuey-Rodriguez instruction, sometimes called a “dynamite charge,” urging jurors to make one more effort toward a verdict. Tensions rose this week when the jury’s foreperson sent Sullivan a note indicating one juror would not follow instructions on the legal standard of reasonable doubt. Defense attorney Kevin Reddington asked the judge to remove that juror, calling the person a holdout refusing to apply the law. Sullivan declined to question or remove the juror.
With the mistrial declared, the case returns to the same status it held before trial, with Clancy still charged with murder and remaining at a psychiatric hospital. The Plymouth County district attorney’s office will now decide whether to retry Clancy before a new jury, offer a plea deal, or decline to pursue the case further. Boston defense attorney Brad Bailey, who is not involved in the case, said prosecutors will weigh the cost of a retrial and the possibility that a new jury would reach the same impasse, while Clancy’s defense team is expected to lobby against a second trial. A first-degree murder conviction would carry life in prison without parole, while an acquittal by reason of insanity could send Clancy to a mental health facility instead.
The livestreamed trial drew national attention to maternal mental health care and divided public opinion, with some viewing Clancy as a mother who recognized something was wrong and sought help, and others arguing she should be punished. The case has drawn comparisons to that of Karen Read, whose 2024 Massachusetts murder trial also ended in a mistrial after a deadlocked jury; prosecutors retried her, and a different jury later acquitted her.
Jackson Mitchell will anchor a Special Edition of Brookland News Live at 2p C, recapping today’s developments and bring live updates as they happen.
This is a developing story, check back for updates.